Month: January 2017

Today’s Google Doodle which is illustrated by artist Sophie Diao, honors the birthday of Fred Toyosaboro Korematso who was a civil rights activist who objected to the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII. He bravely challenged the orders of Franklin D. Roosevelt and subsequently became a fugitive, before eventually being captured and sent to an internment camp in Utah with his family until the end of the war. Both California and Virginia are the only two states who recognize this courageous man each January 30th.

If you have the feeling that something is wrong, don’t be afraid to speak up.

Despite only selling one copy of Blood Curse at the convention (to my tablemate J.L. Mulvihill), I had a great time at Chattacon. I made some new friends and said hello to some old ones I hadn’t seen in person since last year. The weather was unnaturally balmy for January, but crowds were almost as small as they’d been two years previously when the temps were in the single digits (also unnatural weather for this area). I think this was largely due to the lack of available hotel rooms at the Choo Choo.

Slowly but surely, the facility is shifting away from being a hotel. Already one of the three hotel buildings has been converted to apartments, and a second is in the process of being converted. This left only one hotel building and the rail cars for hotel space. What this means for future conventions which use the Choo Choo is uncertain.

Another factor which hurt was the passing of one of the largest, and longest attending vendors Friday morning before the start of the convention.

Since I only had a signing and two panels, I spent most of the convention in the dealer room. I forgot to get over to the art show, something I usually manage to do; but I did attend Jen’s reading. She has a delightfully twisted imagination, I must say. I also attended the LibertyCon room party, the Molly Maguires concert, and most of the Vamp Valley Vixens burlesque show.

They did a silly game show, The Giant Wheel of Whatever!, during intermission and gave away prizes. Winners got nifty donated prizes ranging from anime toys to a pair of Hypericon tickets. Losers got their choice of white chocolate or milk chocolate dick pops with real nuts in the nuts. (Those were exactly what they sound like.)

The theme of the convention this year was The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, yet a very large portion of the cosplay was Steampunk. It varies year to year. One year saw several pirates at the convention.

In other news: I will be an author guest at Hallowcon this year the last weekend of October. This convention is under new management determined to revitalize the convention, and has been moved from Dalton, Georgia to East Ridge, Tennessee. Joe Dog plans to have at least 20 hours of programming. The theme will be The Late Night Double Feature Picture Show (you know the one). Last year’s theme was Vampirates. Really wish I could’ve made that one.

Anywho, I will be starting on my first round of revisions on Maelstrom of Fate very soon, so I can get it in to my publisher. I hope to get the book out IN October this year. I’d like to launch it at Hallowcon.

Although the official final tallies are not up yet, the Preditors & Editors Reader’s Poll has ended. Unofficially, the current tallies show The Daedalus Enigma tied for 8th place in the Horror Novel category and placed at 18th in the Science Fiction/Fantasy Novel category. The SFF competition is always tough.

I want to thank everyone who voted! This makes six years running a Waves of Darkness title has placed in the top ten in Horror Novel!

I’ve stumbled across a new potential model to use for Viktor’s profile pic: Alessandro Etrusco, an Italian actor and model best know for his role as Jesus in the Italian film 7km from Jerusalem. All I need is someone with the PS skills to darken his hair a little and change his brown eyes to green. Otherwise, he has the features and body language which comes the closest I’ve seen yet to how I picture Vik Brandee.

What do you guys think?

In writing news: I’ve finished the rewrite of Ghost Riders in the Sky: The Adventures of Pigg & Woolfe Episode 11 and gotten a good start on completing Castle In the Clouds: The Adventures of Pigg & Woolfe Episode 12.

In convention news: Chattacon 42 is this coming weekend! I will betaking pictures during my convention-long costume hunt which will be posted in a Facebook album on my wall and author page. I will also be holding the first drawing for the last three Red Shirt spots available in Maelstrom of Fate, Waves of Darkness #7.

I’m still not sure if I will have a table on Author’s Alley at ConNooga X in February or not. I am still waiting to hear if I will be seated on any panels at that convention; and the convention has changed their policy on Author’s Alley tables this year. They will no longer be providing free author tables for panelists, as they have been steadily losing money due to authors not showing up. The table fee for authors will be $70 USD, which is rather reasonable. A table and badge will total $110 USD, only ten dollars more than what I pay for an Author’s Alley table at Chattacon; and ConNooga is a much larger convention. I have already purchased my badge; I just don’t know if any tables are still available, or if I can currently afford the fee. (There have been some rather large and unexpected expenses pop up this past week.)

I may tap a few of my fellow authors who’ll be in attendance and see if they would like to split a table. It is allowed. (Why didn’t I think of that earlier, when I first got the news about the fee?)

That’s all the news I can think of to share right now. If something else occurs before the convention, I’ll put up a bonus post.

The Daedalus Enigma is doing well in this year’s Preditors & Editors ReadersPoll so far. It is tied for 7th place in the Horror Novel category and currently positioned at 11th in the Science Fiction/Fantasy Novel category. If you haven’t voted yet, I encourage you to do so now. All you have to do is click on the link above and follow the prompts. They only allow you one vote per category, but you CAN vote for the same book in more than one category.

Your support is greatly appreciated. Every title in the Waves of Darkness has placed in the top ten in this poll for its respective year. I’d love for this one to follow suit.

In other news, I’ve received my schedule for Chattacon at the historic Chattanooga Choo Choo, January 20-22. While I don’t have any signings or readings scheduled, I do have two writers’ panels scheduled on Saturday, January 21. The first is at 11 am in the Finley Auditorium: Writing for Specific Genre: Steampunk, pirates, vampires, and zombies are all examples of popular genres that have become franchises. To write within a specific genre and keep it fresh and original is no small feat. Our panelists will discuss do’s and don’ts of writing genre specific fiction. Jen Mulvihill, Gregory Nicoll, Tamara A. Lowery, and Scott Baker. The second is at 3 pm in Classroom A: Writers’ Workshop – World Building: The richness and depth of a good story begins with the world that it is set in. But building an entire world can be a daunting task! How do you do it? Glad you asked! Our panelists will share their knowledge on how to create worlds that ring true to the reader. Wendy Webb, Scott Baker, Tamara A. Lowery, and Robert Sommers.

[edit] I will have a book signing/meet-the-author slot in the Dealer Room Lobby at 5pm Friday, January 20. [end edit]

I will post this on my Appearances page, as well.

Even though I wasn’t scheduled for any this year at Chattacon, I may still do an impromptu reading from my table in the Dealers’ Room.

I will also hold the drawing for one of my final Red Shirt spots in the series. So far I only have 7 entrants, but there’s still time to put your name in the pot. Just post a comment to this blog here or wherever you see it shared on Facebook or Plurk that you’d like your name included for a chance to be listed as a Colonial era Royal Marine who meets a horrific end.

I will have 10 copies each of all six current titles in the Waves of Darkness series, and I do have special convention rates if you buy more than one book or buy a full set. I would LOVE for the only books I bring back home from this convention be the ones I bought from other authors.

In writing news, I have the first ten episodes of The Adventures of Pigg & Woolfe typed up and ready to run past my beta readers. I’m currently rewriting episode 11 to expand it; and I will be rewriting/finishing episode 12, since I never finished it the first time. After that, I’ll have to map out where I want the story to go for the second season of the serial. I plan to shop the serial to a few publishers, but I may end up self-publishing it. I am determined readers will get a chance at these stories.